Night Flight

Myra Platts adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exuperys 1931 novella into an operetta centers around the pioneers of air mailpilots, their wives, ground crew, management, etc.who must conquer their very justifiable fears daily in order to get the mail delivered from the South American provinces to Europe. Much of the dialogue is sung to a score composed by Joshua Kohl and performed by Kohls period-costume-clad Degenerate Art Ensemble. Above, pilot Fabien (John Bogar) is a persistent, visible presence high on a scaffold suspended over the hive of human activity on the stage floor. At the hub of this fractious human carousel is Riviere (John Patrick Lowrie), the man responsible for keeping the planes on schedule despite every manner of menace from weather to mechanical failures to his pilots simple terror. Director Platt scored a coup in staging the Deco-era play in the Deco-era Moore Theatre, whose soaring arched proscenium naturally resembles what Saint-Exupery refers to as "the womb of night." MARGARET FRIEDMAN [See Margaret's full review.]